To the Editor,
Re: Cost of tap water paid by taxpayers, Letters, Aug. 2.
John Challinor of Nestlé knows not of what he speaks.
The taxpayers pay for the infrastructure to deliver our water and not the water itself.
The war we are waging, as retired people and working people in our communities, is entirely about our environment.
I, for one, am highly concerned with everything that the bottled water industry does and does not do.
They use our own tap water and charge 1,000-per cent more than what we would pay for water coming from our own taps.
Is this not about their profit margin?
The industry uses oil-based products to make the bottles that now fill up a huge portion of our oceans and these have a huge effect our our marine life.
These bottles also release toxins into the water within that bottle that are dangerous to our health. The release is done with every temperature change – and there are many temperature changes. That has been scientifically proven.
The request to our councillors and regional district directors were not just from the Council of Canadians and CUPE. They were also from Vancouver Island Water Watch Coalition (which is a group of community coalitions from one end of the Island to the other) and the Island Glass Artisans – both of these latter groups are concerned citizens within their communities.
We have every right to be concerned and we will continue to challenge the likes of Challinor.
June Ross
Vancouver Island Water Watch Coalition